Trans influencer jailed in men’s prison unit

Trans beauty influencer Nikita Dragun was arrested in Miami and placed in a men’s unit.

Transcript

00:00Transgender beauty influencer Nikita Dragon has been released from jail after being held in a

00:04men's unit, so we need to talk about the historic mistreatment of trans inmates within the U.S.

00:09prison system. Dragon, who is legally female, was arrested in Miami and listed as a male on

00:14her booking paperwork. Your honor, may I ask one question? Do I have to stay here in the men's unit

00:21still? In the U.S. prison system, many transgender people are housed according to their assigned sex

00:27at birth or genitalia at the time they were arrested. A 2015 study found that as a result,

00:32one in five trans inmates were sexually assaulted by staff or other inmates within the prior year.

00:37In 2003, Congress passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act, which included a rule that

00:41each U.S. facility can decide housing assignments for trans inmates on a case-by-case basis. Prisons

00:47are instructed to weigh the inmate's safety and whether a placement would quote present

00:51management or security problems. Trans activists say these regulations violate federal civil rights

00:56and the constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment.